Machine Guns & Automatic Firearms in Vermont

Last updated September 17, 2018.

Vermont has no law restricting machine guns, except in the hunting context.1 However, in 2018, the state enacted a limited ban on possession of certain “bump-fire stocks”2 if they are designed to be attached to a semiautomatic firearm and intended to increase the rate of fire achievable with the firearm to that of a fully automatic firearm.3

Federal law requires machine guns to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and generally prohibits the transfer or possession of machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986.4 In December 2018, ATF finalized a rule to include bump stocks within the definition of a machine gun subject to this federal law, meaning that bump stocks will be generally banned as of March 26, 2019.5

Notes

See 2017 VT S 55, Sec. 9. A “bump-fire stock” is defined to mean”a butt stock designed to be attached to a semiautomatic firearm and intended to increase the rate of fire achievable with the firearm to that of a fully automatic firearm by using the energy from the recoil of the firearm to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates the repeated activation of the trigger. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 4022(a). ⤴︎